Guidewires are typically used in interventional procedures to access treatment areas. Guide catheters are typically slid over the guidewire to access the target area and act as a conduit for subsequently deployed microcatheters and/or therapeutic/treatment devices.
The vasculature can be particularly winding or tortuous, especially in the neurovasculature where small, tortuous blood vessels abound, making accessing the target area and delivering treatment devices particularly difficult. In a phenomenon known as the ledge effect, there is a gap between the guidewire and the distal end of the guide catheter which can get caught along blood vessel bifurcations, preventing the catheter from effectively tracking through the vasculature. The ophthalmic artery is just one region where there is a bifurcation, as well as significant tortuosity of the blood vessel, and is just one of many regions where the catheter can get stuck.
A system which would minimize or eliminate the gap between the guidewire and guide catheter is desirable to prevent the catheter from getting stuck in the vasculature.